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With the relatively quiet primary election behind them, Ohio voters can expect a much more intense fall political season.

Republicans hold all statewide positions and control both chambers of the Legislature, but Democrats are fielding competitive candidates in every statewide race.

With less than 20 percent of Ohioans participating in the primary election, both parties know they have work to do to engage voters this fall.

Chris Schrimpf, spokesman for the state Republicans, said one of the biggest challenges his party faces is keeping voters interested in races they might assume already are won.

“It’s still Ohio,” he said. “It’s still the top swing state in the nation. ... The Democrats have a very good ground game.”

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said that although the spring might have appeared quiet to most voters, it was an active time for the party to collect data to determine the people who are likely to vote this fall and what issues are important to them. He said because the party typically lags Republicans in financial resources, it must focus on getting its message out through more grass-roots operations.

Republican candidates garnered more votes than Democrats during the primary races, which Schrimpf said was a sign of support for the party, but Redfern said no evidence has ever shown primary turnout to be indicative of general election support.

Neither Redfern nor Schrimpf believed the low turnout would affect voter interest this fall, attributing it more to a lack of any true statewide primary races.

Michael McTeague, interim associate dean of Ohio University-Eastern, said he doesn’t expect a lot of turnover in the elections as voters wait to see how the economy pans out and how the national health care law unfolds.

“It’s most likely a status quo fall election,” he said. “That’s unfortunate because there’s a lot of things that should be raised.”

Here is a look at the statewide races and the financial resources each major candidate reported before the primary election.

GOVERNOR

• Republican

: Gov. John Kasich

•

Hometown: Westerville

•

Money on hand: $8.5 million

•

Democrat: Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald

•

Hometown: Lakewood

•

Money on hand: $1.5 million

•

Outlook: The top-of-the-ticket race has drawn the most attention with Kasich dominating the financial game. He began running television ads before his opponent despite facing no primary competition. FitzGerald responded with radio commercials attacking the governor’s economic and tax policy and ignoring his own primary opponent.

The economy likely will be the target issue. Kasich has spent much of his time touting the “Ohio miracle” and job growth spurred by his policies. A recent ad from the Republican Governors Association touted Kasich’s ability to fill the rainy day fund and cut unemployment without raising taxes.

“Governor Kasich is building Ohio’s future,” it said.

FitzGerald, however, has attacked Kasich for supporting policies that favor the wealthy and leaving most Ohioans in the lurch.

“They have to spend big money to try and convince Ohio voters that Kasich’s attacks on teachers, firefighters, police officers, women, and working families over the last three years have actually helped Ohio,” a campaign email read.

McTeague said one of the problems for the challenger is finding an issue to rally voters around. With both candidates focused on improving the economy, it is difficult to distinguish oneself. In fact, he said it might be most interesting to watch local-level races as townships and counties face the reality of having to operate with fewer dollars after state cuts. But he said such issues aren’t likely to excite the voters.

“Right now, it’s rather bland,” he said.

Although there has been a lack of specifics, FitzGerald is expected to begin rolling out specific campaign proposals in the near future.

Libertarian Charlie Earl said he will continue to fight to be placed on the ballot this fall. This could draw votes away from Kasich, who angered some conservatives by pushing through Medicaid expansion.

FitzGerald will be joined by Yellow Springs attorney Sharen Neuhardt, a former candidate for Congress known for her outspoken support for abortion rights.

Kasich is partnering again with Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, a former state auditor and lawmaker from the Akron-area suburb of Green, who has been a critic of the federal Affordable Care Act.

TREASURER

•

Republican: Treasurer Josh Mandel

•

Hometown: Beachwood in Cuyahoga County

•

Money on hand: $2.4 million

•

Democrat: State Rep. Connie Pillich

•

Hometown: Montgomery in Hamilton County

•

Money on hand: $1.2 million

•

Outlook: Outside of governor, this race has the opportunity to be one of the most heated as Pillich goes after Mandel two years after the treasurer lost in a brutally negative campaign against Sen. Sherrod Brown. Mandel, a former state legislator and U.S. Marine, openly criticized Kasich’s support of Medicaid expansion. He has touted his ability to keep a high investment rating while also reducing his department’s budget.

Pillich, a former U.S. Air Force captain, believes her Master of Business Administration degree, background in banking law and experience running her own law firm makes her perfectly suited for the treasurer’s job of managing the collection and investment of the state’s taxes. She has criticized Mandel for running for U.S. Senate as soon as being elected treasurer.

Although Mandel has twice the financial resources as Pillich, they both raised roughly the same amount of money during the last filing period. For a post that’s generally an afterthought to the electorate, this race could get quite heated.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

•

Republican: Attorney General Mike DeWine

•

Hometown: Cedarville Township in Greene County

•

Money on hand: $2.1 million

•

Democrat: Attorney David Pepper

•

Hometown: Anderson Township in Hamilton County

•

Money on hand: $1.2 million

•

Outlook: Although most of the statewide campaigns have been relatively inactive during the primary, that cannot be said for Pepper’s effort. The former Hamilton County commissioner has tried to push his agenda aggressively and attacked DeWine on everything from his handling of the state’s heroin problem to the use of facial recognition technology. He recently asked for five debates with DeWine, which would be an unprecedented number for any statewide contest, let alone a down-ticket race.

“We believe that having at least five debates held in different regions of the state will help maximize voter and media access to the candidates,” a campaign email read.

Increasing voter access is critical for the challenger as he faces a well-known, well-financed and fairly popular incumbent in DeWine. In fact, the attorney general’s campaigning has been fairly limited to date; instead, DeWine has focused on events to push his work in office, from fighting elder abuse to the state’s drug problem. Schrimpf said such a strategy is wise for most statewide incumbents.

“The best thing is for them to continue to do a good job,” he said.

SECRETARY OF STATE

•

Republican: Secretary of State Jon Husted

•

Hometown: Upper Arlington

•

Money on hand: $2.3 million

•

Democrat: State Sen. Nina Turner

•

Hometown: Cleveland

• Money on hand

: $493,786

•

Outlook: This is likely to be an election all about elections.

Although the secretary of state has many duties, the job to manage the state’s elections will be the center of the race this fall. Of the five posts Turner has on her campaign’s home page, four deal with elections, including one asking why people who are poor or members of minorities are less likely to vote.

Husted has pushed for uniform voting across the state and better rules to prevent gerrymandering. Turner, however, has criticized any restrictions on early voting and has called to make the process as simple as possible so as not to disenfranchise voters.

The race also could become one of national attention, as Bloomberg reported Turner’s campaign is one of a few secretary of state races gaining attention from the Democratic National Committee and outside groups targeting voting laws.

Although Turner trails far behind Husted in the money race, she did raise more than $108,000 more than Husted in the last reporting period. She was aided by $85,000 from state Democrats, and about a third of her money this year came from outside Ohio. About 11 percent of Husted’s contributions this year cam from outside the state.

AUDITOR

•

Republican: Auditor Dave Yost

•

Hometown: Columbus

•

Money on hand: $916,643

•

Democrat: State Rep. John Patrick Carney

•

Hometown: Columbus

•

Money on hand: $736,491

•

Outlook: The lowest profile race of the spring is likely to continue that way into the fall. Carney has criticized Yost’s handling of the JobsOhio audit, but Yost has also been fairly outspoken about the state curtailing his auditing efforts.

Carney trails Yost financially, but not by a significant margin. In fact, his campaign touts the fact Carney has raised more than Yost for three straight reporting cycles. Whether that will be enough to motivate voters for a change in a down-ticket office is yet to be seen. Libertarian Bob Bridges, a small-business owner in Columbus, also expects to be on the ballot this fall in this race.

OTHER RACES

•

Legislature: A handful of incumbents were tossed from office in the primary, including one in a bizarre write-in campaign in which the incumbent’s wife ran as a placeholder after he failed to properly sign his petition forms. More turnover is unlikely in the fall, McTeague said, because the legislature has done such a good job gerrymandering districts that fall upsets are increasingly rare. Those district lines are one of the reasons Democrats hope to win one of the statewide positions before the next round of district lines are drawn. Redfern admitted inroads into either chamber would be difficult: “When we talk about policy, we win, but we don’t control the lines.”

•

Supreme Court: Two positions are on the ballot for the state’s highest court, including that of Kasich-appointed Justice Judi French, a Republican. She will face Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John O’Donnell, a Democrat. For the other spot, Republican Justice Sharon Kennedy faces Democrat Tom Letson, a state representative from Warren. Although candidates run in partisan primaries, their party affiliations do not appear next to their names in the general election.

•

Issues: Proponents of medical marijuana said they have the signatures needed to put the issue in front of Ohio voters this fall. A poll released earlier this year showed 87 percent of Ohio voters believe medical marijuana use under the care of a doctor should be legal. Some supporters of gay marriage also are pushing for a ballot initiative this fall, but other rights groups believe it is too early to put the issue in front of the voters.